Our Story

Growing up through cold and dark Canadian winters can create a difficult sleeping routine for any person around the world. Combine this with a daily commute to work, and the challenge becomes exponentially harder. As a professional, I found myself waking up around 6:30am to make it to my job for 9am, and during this time I would awake in complete darkness, not to mention returning home during complete darkness as well. Not only did I find this to be very depressing, waking up and having the motivation or energy to get out of bed was even harder.

I believe most working professionals can relate to what I experienced above. Now, syndicate this with the fact that most young adults are exposed to blue light from their devices before bed can also make this process tougher. Screen time before bedtime may leave people feeling groggy in the morning. Cell phones, computers and TVs emit blue light, and exposure to that bluish light during the two hours before bed can keep us from getting a good night’s rest. Data shows that this blue light tends to make us more alert at night, which makes it harder to fall asleep and get all the rest we need.

So I thought to myself, what can I change in this cycle? I cannot change mother nature and the amount of light we receive in Winter, and I cannot change people’s exposure to blue light before bed. What I can change is the methods and sleep aids available for users before and after they go to sleep.

As an avid traveler and entrepreneur, I enjoy exploring various countries around the world and learning about their cultural habits and lifestyle. During my travels to Sweden, I came across my first idea of our product, the sunrise alarm clock. Sweden has an average of about 4-5 hours of daylight throughout the winter, but as a country they rank #2 in the worldwide happiness index. As a country they have developed unique ways to have exposure to light during these dark winter periods that allow them to wake up feeling refreshed and in a better mood despite being exposed to complete darkness.

Next, while exploring Croatia, I came across a pop-up lavender store that had a bunch of different lavender infused products. After speaking to the lady at the store, she educated me on the fact that lavender has been used throughout Croatia for decades for its natural medicinal properties. The lavender story fascinates me, and it is a product which perhaps best symbolizes the island's natural beauty, aromatic fields and recuperative qualities.

These enlightening experiences allowed me to develop the brand Somnium World, your modern-day sleeping companion. As a company we aim to help the millions of adults around the world who suffer from poor sleep routines and schedules and provide them with the products to help them improve their routines. As a young adult, I know how hard it is to change bed time habits especially in the age of technology that we live in, but our products are able to mitigate some of this fatigue and challenge we all face every morning.